Friday, October 28, 2016

I couldn’t let Women’s History Month pass without mentioning
some of the women involved in making the archives what they are. It is no
secret that much of history is dominated by the male narrative, but what we
sometimes forget as a society is that women did record many of these stories,
especially in the past couple of centuries. Women recorded the births,
marriages, deaths and other family milestones in the family Bible. How many of
us had a mother or grandmother who clipped the obits and birth announcements
from the paper? Who (one hopes) labeled the photographs of their children as
they grew? The task to collect and preserve this information is just one more
responsibility unassumingly donned by women and like so many of their other
contributions in the past, generally goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Unless
you are an historian or genealogist – in which case you’re often very grateful!

Mae Gauvreau on the D.A. Thomas holding her Kodak Brownie camera. Of the photographs in the 1980.1131 donation, it is assumed several where taken by her. PRMA1980.1131.021.

As our donation records attest, it is often women who see
the importance in collecting and safeguarding their family’s history. Whether
it be in photographs, albums, scrapbooks, letters, or diary entries. They
recorded minutes at countless meetings, including the societies formed by and
for women such as the Imperial Order of Daughters of Empire, the Alberta
Women’s Institute, the Lioness Club, Women’s Auxiliary, Anglican Church Ladies,
United Church Ladies, Catholic Women’s League, the Kinnettes, Order of the
Eastern Star, and later the Legion and Rotary. Many of these items were created
by women, and then donated to the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie
Centre by them or female descendants.

The museum itself was established by the Peace River Women’s
Institute, and prominent names such as Evelyn Mercer, Muriel Oslie, Eva
Northey, Evelyn Hansen, Clara Richardson, Barbara Crawford, Evelyn Seeley,
Edith Cruickshank, Aurelia Vangrud, Edith Clarke, Lois Stranaghan, Jean Cameron
Kelley, Anne Macmillan, Katharine Hoskin Hunt, Adele Boucher and many others
continually appear again and again as donors, volunteers, advocates and
supporters. They saw the value in preserving these pieces of our community’s
history. To all of the women who have contributed to and inspired the Peace
River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre, we are truly grateful.

Want
to know more the records we hold in our archives? Drop in or give us a call or
email, and I’d be happy to show you some of our archival material. We have
records for several of the organizations mentioned earlier, and thousands of
photographs. Or drop into the museum and see our new exhibit Silent Dreams: Their Story, an exhibit that examines the challenges faced by women from
pre-fur trade to the present day.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

(Sources: Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie
Centre files; Sustainable Development of Megacities of Tomorrow)

Recently, Prof. Dr. Eckert Ehlers visited the Peace
River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre to which he had, previously donated
many items, such as academic journals, surveys of various Alberta communities,
agricultural books and magazines, reports, soil surveys, diagrams and his
thesis: [The Northern Peace River Country/Alberta Canada Genesis and Structure
of a Pioneer area in a Boreal Forest Belt of North America].

In the 1960s, Dr. Ehlers was a student in Germany. But,
to research his PhD thesis on agriculture and colonization, he chose the Peace
Country, spending the academic year 1962-63 as a student at the University of
Alberta and his field research in the Peace River area. During the winter, he
lived in town with a German family – the Zobels. His days were spent copying
homestead records at the Public Lands Office, run by Donald Sawyer.

Dr. Ehlers and Peace River Archivist Carson Murphy

In the summer of 1963, he spent about four months researching
his case studies, of which he had five – Fort Vermilion, Worsley and Hines
Creek, Shaftesbury Settlement, Fairview and Manning.

Dr. Ehlers has been accompanying The Future Cities
Program as a chairman of the panels since 2004. The Research Program
“Sustainable Development of the Megacities of Tomorrow, funded by German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In its main phase between 2008-2013
focused on “energy and climate-efficient structures in urban growth centre” in
developing and newly industrializing countries.

When asked how cities related to climate change, he
replied: “The urbanization of the planet is one of the biggest challenges of
the 21st century. Over 50 per cent of the people on two per cent of
the earth’s surface produce over 75 per cent of the global greenhouse gases.
Population growth, scarcity of energy and resources and climate change are
closely connected. Both the livability and quality of life in the cities, and
the development of climate – and energy efficient urban growth require
sustainable solutions and strategies.

The reason for focus on megacities of tomorrow:
Future megacities in developing and newly industrializing countries have
role-model status in terms of growth and environmental management. Megacities
are particularly pioneering in developing innovative solutions that affect
national and international urban growth processes.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The cover of Wayne Arthur's recently published autobiography. Copies will be available for purchase at the Author's launch event at the Museum.

“Fall in the Rockies, elk Bugling, trees a-golden, a
chill in the wind, frosty mornings, clear blue skies with silky threads of
light cloud. It all goes by so fast. So, let’s get out there before winter,” introduces
Chapter Thirteen of Saddle Up With Cinch.
Sounds like the days we have experienced, lately.

Dr. Rick Erlendson, a friend of more than 36 years,
in his Forward to Cinch’s book writes, “Before long, Cinch was leaving his
footprints all over the Peace country. He was a popular speaker across the
greater Peace region at conventions, prayer breakfasts and men’s retreats. Some
people didn’t even know he was a recording artist (Songs of Pioneer, 1965;
Cinch Songs, 1976; Alberta Gold, 1978; It’s a Cinch, 1995). He also performed
for many years with the Misery Mountain Boys – invited to perform at EXPO ’86
in Vancouver. More recently, he’s played fiddle with the bluegrass band Peace
Valley Boys. Most people thought Cinch’s claim to fame was teaching scripture.

He was soon a much sought-after announcer on the rodeo circuit, and a popular
emcee for everything from bluegrass festivals to community banquets.”

Well, when you read Saddle Up With Cinch you will
learn all of this and more about the man who was born Wayne Franklin Arthur in
Princeton, B.C. and was a bit of a rascal. “I was always up to something.” His
memory takes him back to those days and the journey he has taken to today,
which, no doubt, accounts for his book dedication: “To my patient and
understanding wife and my four beautiful daughters who nervously lived the
stories herein and didn’t want their children to know the details.”

So, come along for the ride with Cinch along the
more than 420 pages of memory lane – one of the best literary rides you will
ever experience.

Cinch, his books and music
will be at the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre, 10302-99 St.,
Saturday, September 17, 2016, 3-5 p.m.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Peace River residents will recognize our September artist of the month, Vivian St. Andre, as someone with a deep personal history in the Peace. Vivian followed her passion for art with a Visual Arts Education through Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC), Athabasca University and Fairview College. She continued to supplement her studies by taking summer art classes in Edmonton and Red Deer and more recently participated in Art History Tours through GPRC/NAIT which took her and fellow travellers/artists to galleries in London, Venice and Eastern Canada.Vivian deftly captures
the expressiveness of the environment, the nuances of everyday objects and musicians
and dancers poised at their art. Some may remember her many contributions to
art exhibits at the once Fairview College (PR Campus), now Northern Lakes
College, Fairview Creative Arts Centre, Grande Prairie Regional College and her
works on exhibit with other Peace of Art members at the Library and Art Gallery
and at Java Domain. Do you recall
viewing the bold canvass with the cello player intent on the sounds he was
drawing from the instrument or the almost life-sized ballerina gracefully bent
to wrap the ribbons of her pointe slippers?

“The subject matter of
my art is as varied as the mediums I like to work with. The subjects are
represented either traditionally or in abstract form. Some may have a voice
recognizing human or environmental issues but generally my art expresses my
appreciation for the beauty of nature, the human body, people, architecture and
the fine arts of music and dance." (Quote by Vivian St. Andre in her artist's statement)

While her favourite
medium is pastels, she also works in photography, paints with watercolours,
acrylic and in past works explored oils. A canoe on a summer’s day is featured
on the Art Wall this month and the poplars of our boreal forest make the viewer
feel like reaching out to touch the soft bark painted on another canvass. Reminisce
with pioneer school desks or enjoy the architecture of heritage buildings in
eastern Canada through the artist’s eye.

Drop by to view Vivian’s work any time
from Monday to Saturday between 10am and 5pm.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Madeline at her 2016 summer tour spot in Downtown Peace River.There is one tour left on August 18 starting at 12:00; 12:30; and 1:00 pm

by Madeline Martel

Random acts of kindness can strike anywhere, and anytime,
which has proven true for me. One may not even be aware that something they do
can have such a vast impact on someone’s day, or even life. It’s so easy to generalize human beings as being bad when we look at all the atrocities that
people have committed in the past, and are still presently committing, but anyone who has been witness to, received, or given, a random act of
kindness would disagree with that generalization.

While working as a summer student at the museum this summer,
I have been the recipient of a couple acts of kindness that have stood out in
my mind all summer long. From generous Shaftesbury Trail residents bringing me
water on a particularly hot day at the Mackenzie Cairn, to a young man taking a
strong interest in the walking tours, I have truly been moved by the kindness
that people have to offer.

Bad news and serious stories plaster the internet,
newspapers, radio, and everything in between. Sometimes the headlines are all
bad and it seems like nothing good ever happens on a global, or even on a local
scale. Although the “feel good stories”
mainly affect a very small portion of the population, they do have a domino
effect on a community. Someone does something nice for you; you do something
nice for someone else, and so on. Good deeds deserve to be recognized as having
a major impact on people’s well-being and overall happiness.

It’s not as if acts of kindness were not happening while I
was growing up in Peace River, living my day to day life, but they seem to
stand out so prominently now that I’m only back for the summer. Growing up in a
small town can make a young person want to flee, in hopes of finding a more exciting
life. This was true for me, but now that I am home for the summer, soon to go
back to the city, I am taking in the beauty and kindness that so many people in
the Peace Region have to offer. I take the time now to recognize these acts and
be grateful that I live in such an amazing place, with so many kind-hearted
people. So, thank you, on behalf of everyone who has received a random act of
kindness, to those who take the time out of their lives to do these deeds and
expect nothing in return.

There is so much about Peace River, its people, its
history of which many of us are unaware. Take, for instance, Fred Sutherland,
whose father Dr. Frederick Henry Sutherland, was one of Peace River Crossings
first physicians and whose mother, Clara Caroline Richards was one of the
“Crossings” first nurses.

Fred, who shared his parents with sisters Kathleen
and Alma, made history in his own right. He is Canada’s last surviving
Dambuster – “one of only two men left in the world who participated ‘in one of
the most deadly, daring missions of the Second World War’.

When Fred left school at 18, his dream was to be a
bush pilot in Canada’s wilderness. To reach that goal, he enlisted in the air
force and trained as an air gunner at Brandon, Manitoba. In the spring of 1942,
he completed his operational training at Royal Air Force Cottesmore in Rutland,
England, where “he crewed up” with Australian Les Knight as his pilot –
Sergeant Fred Sutherland the front gunner. They began flying the Lancaster at
Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire, in their first operational unit – Royal Air Force
Number 50 Squadron.

The seven-man “close-knit” crew survived 25 trips
over Europe – a full tour was 30. By March 1943, the crew looked forward to
making the remaining five trips and the brief respite that would follow before
their final tour of 20 additional trips.

Two crews from the squadron were chosen for a
special, top secret project, in exchange for which they would be granted the
last five trips of their first tour. “If you had made it through 25 trips, you
were doing very well,” Fred recalls in an interview with reporter and relative
by marriage, Elinor Florence, in the East Kootnay News Online Weekly, July 24,
2016. “Our crew was considered one of the best. We volunteered for the special
mission because we wanted to stay together.”

As it turned out, the mission involved a “bouncing
bomb” concept of scientist Barnes Wallis. There were stringent guidelines: “The
bomb had to be dropped from an altitude of precisely 60 feet, at an air speed
of precisely 390 kilometres per hour, and at a precisely specified distance
from the target.”

The crews practised – first with dummy bombs, then
with those filled with sand – still unaware their actual target(s) until the
night of Operation Chastise – May 16, 1943. “It was a suicide mission”. Targets
– three key dams to knock out hydroelectric power and reduce the water supply
to the heavily industrialized Ruhr Valley. Fred never expected to survive. Of
the 19 Lancasters taking off that night, eight were lost.

The last of the three dams on the agenda – the Eder.
Five aircraft pursued the target in heavy fog – the approach made more
difficult by the surrounding hills. Fred’s nose gunner position – lying in a
transparent bubble at the very front of the aircraft below the cockpit was, as
one might imagine, a vulnerable one.

The other aircraft had unsuccessful runs. Then,
Fred’s aircraft released the final bomb “at just the precise moment” blowing
the dam wide open. “As soon as the dam was hit, the water was going everywhere.
There was a bridge down below the dam that just disappeared, just
disintegrated. The force was terrific. We couldn’t believe it. We were just
yattering away.”

Fred credits his pilot, Les Knight, with this feat.
“Jumping over the hill and hitting the right speed and the right height as an
act of genius.”

In total, 53 of the 133 airmen on the attack were
killed – a casualty rate of 40 percent. Of the 30 Canadians, 14 were killed,
one taken prisoner and 15, including Fred, returned to base.

Although this is the end of this mission, it is not
the end of Fred’s war experiences before returning to Canada and home in 1944.
Waiting for him at the station in Edmonton were his parents and his soon-to-be
wife Margaret Baker.

For the rest of the war, Fred served as a gunnery
instructor. Following the war, he became a forestry inspector for the Government
of Alberta working in Calgary, Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House where he and
Margaret currently live an active life – she 94 and he 93.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Dave Matilpi – FROM THE HEART - Artist of the Month of
August

A face that easily
breaks into a smile, a gray braid down his back, a feather in his hat, Dave
Matilpi is an Elder, a Pow Wow dancer, a teacher, an artist, and a gifted
communicator.

Dave Matilpi was born
in Alert Bay, British Columbia, which is the traditional territory of the
Kwakiutl First Nation.

Papa Dave, as he is
known to many students in the Peace who have been influenced by his insight,
humour and wisdom, teaches using his traditional and personal stories. These
stories are very often the inspiration behind his art work.As a self-taught artist, he works in wood,
antler, ink, paint and murals. One need only visit the Sagitawa Friendship Centre
to view a full wall mural created by Dave or see him dancing in his Pow Wow
regalia, created in the traditional style with his West Coast designs to
appreciate his artistic abilities.

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Dave’s West Coast
images are striking and bold in colour, expressing, in some, the well-known
characteristics of the Wild Woman or the Summer Sisters (also known as,
mosquitoes). These works can all be viewed at the Sagitawa Friendship Centre
gift shop. I remember when he first presented at the Museum as the Artist of
the Month a couple of years ago, he explained how he was beginning to see a
blend of West Coast and northern Cree images in his work – the influence of
years of living in northern Alberta.

﻿

Stolen Family Teachings

Most recently his work
reflects his life’s journey, specifically the impact of attending residential
school in Alert Bay. His formative years were spent in Alert Bay Residential
School. One can see in the images painted on canvas the inspiration and
strength he derives from his traditions to move forward and bring awareness and
greater understanding to those who see and hear his stories about this personal
journey. These are the works currently on display at the Museum. In them, you
will see traditional images freely moving on the canvass within the confining
shapes and symbols of his residential school experience. The two dichotomies
seem to express the ever present memories with the strength and wisdom of the
ancient Elders.

Ancestor's Love

Dave Matilpi’s art,
like the art of Carey Newman’s Witness
Blanket, currently on exhibit, help break the silence about Canada’s
residential school system and contribute to the national conversation and
healing our country is experiencing.

Friday, July 29, 2016

The
Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway was incorporated by Dominion
Statutes 1907. Its purpose was to run north from Edmonton “by the most feasible
route, to a point at or near the town of Dunvegan.” Of course those were the
days when it was believed Dunvegan would amount to a great centre instead of
the iconic crossing we know it as today.

In the
early 1900s, railways were the veins of the country. Across them, from coast to
coast, steam engines carried the nation’s manufactured, agricultural, and raw
materials. Such an efficient system contributed millions to the nation’s
economy. It allowed people to travel more frequently and with greater ease, and
also opened the way for better national communication systems with the
telegraph lines which often ran parallel to the tracks. It was a time when if
you were ‘an-up-and-coming town’, a place with a good future and not just ‘any
old town’ you were on the railway – it was your link to the outside world, to
investors, to product markets, to labour forces. No better example could be
found than Peace River and Grouard. Both were small communities that started as
service points. Both were of a comparable size, and offered the same sorts of
services. However, when Grouard was by-passed by the railway in 1914, and Peace
River received its own station, Peace River prospered, while Grouard gradually
declined.

The
railway made it to Judah Hill in 1915, and passengers and goods could disembark
and embark there for trains to Edmonton and Grande Prairie. Railway workers
were busy erecting the Heart River Trestle (completed May of 1916) and others
the railbed from the Heart River, across Pat’s Creek to where the station is. A
spur line was also in the works for the warehouse district near the river. Trains
were anticipated to be running to the site of the station as early as the end
of July – right around this time of month. The station that was to be erected
was meant to “be the largest and best building of the kind erected on the lines
of the company.” And was it! It was on par with Grande Prairie’s, McLennan’s
and later Fahler and Spirit River. It was expected to be in use by the end of
the summer.

The N.A.R. railway station shortly after Northern Alberta Railways was formed in 1929, awaiting the arrival of Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir,the Governor General of Canada and his wife. From the Cruickshank Family fonds, F044.002.103.

The E.D.
& B.C. was optimistic in 1916. Surveying crews worked on establishing
future routes from Peace River to Fort Vermilion via Battle River (Manning).
Can you imagine how different Fort Vermilion might be had they been successful?

The
railway continued west with the completion of the Million Dollar Bridge in
1918, reaching Berwyn in 1921, Whitelaw in 1924, Fairview in 1928, and Hines
Creek in 1930 when the railway movement had run out of steam and the Great Depression
began.

The station building was enlarged in the late 1930s, and passenger service ceased in May of 1960. It was designated as a Provincial Historic Resource 29 Apr 1988. Rescued in 1992 and restored to its former glory (and thankfully repainted from the N.A.R. colours) the building is a lasting reminder of our proud railway heritage. Thankfully Peace River is lucky, and the lovely simple Edwardian
building is still with us today to celebrate 100 years.

Join us
for a BBQ, pie and ice cream Saturday Jul 30th from 11 to 2pm at the
NAR station in Peace River to celebrate its 100th birthday. Details
can be found on the Peace River Museum Facebook page or on the town’s website: http://bit.ly/2auivuf . The museum has also
issued a series of archival postcards commemorating the community's milestones including the NAR Station, Heart River trestle and the D.A. Thomas – these are available for sale in our giftshop.

The postcard available for sale in the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre commemorating the NAR station's 100th birthday. Drop by and browse our selection of other anniversary postcards.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Using
a traditional quilting style, artist Carey Newman not only weaves cedar together with
items from residential schools and government buildings, but the memories and
stories associated with them. The 887 objects that were found and retrieved
from communities all over Canada relay very profound messages; connecting
cultures, traditions and histories. Like
the cast off pieces of fabric from old shirts, blankets, and dresses used to
make beautiful patchwork quilts, Newman has taken previously used items that
became cast off to create a beautiful memorial.

Giving
these items purpose again, the symbolism of many of the objects that were
discarded and reclaimed have also given the Witness Blanket an alternate way to
speak to Canada’s darker residential school history on many different levels. He has taken the mundane, the everyday, and
the innocent and woven them together in such a way to make us think about the
people and experiences behind them. Many items hold multiple meanings – where
some people may view them one way and others another. The pair of skates speaks
to sports and laughter and community to some, while to others these items may
reach a different, deeper meaning.The
small statue of Mary may bring comfort to some, and anxiety to others.The bricks that are affixed to the blanket may
symbolise grand old buildings, but may have been sources of intimidation to
others, where terrible things happened behind their ‘beautiful’ facades. Some
children even carved their name into them as a way of remembrance of who they
were…

Braided hair within the Witness Blanket

The
physical objects are woven together by photographs, survivor testimony,
newspaper articles and legislation. Some are harder to see and read than
others, further developing the symbolism of the Residential forgotten story,
emphasizing the struggle to see what was happening in our own country. With
faded photographs, and the small, almost illegible text on select tiles, Newman
has increasingly created a tough narrative to read, but one that piques our need
to understand, encouraging us to try to decipher what the items say. As an artist
and one whose family experienced residential school history has been able to
articulate the increasingly important story of the Canadian Residential School
system using artistic interpretation and personal involvement with survivors. The
artistic quilting of these objects create and inspire conversation that help us
document and share the Residential School story.

Like
the traditionally stitched quilt that is passed down from generation to
generation, Newman has given Canada a new blanket to appreciate and pass down
to future generations.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

(Sources: Peace River Remembers; Turning the Pages of Time, a History of Nampa and Surrounding District; Waymarking.com; Mosquitoes, Muskegs and Memories, a History of Wesley Creek and Three Creeks)By Beth Wilkins,
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

A man who came to Alberta from Nova Scotia on a Harvest Excursion in 1926 liked it so well, he stayed. That man, Cecil Vicars Thompson, raised on a farm near Fort Lawrence, an archeological site on the side of the Missaguash River brought with him the farm knowledge he learned on the family farm, as well as the that which he picked up from graduating in the first class of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.

Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre 2009.014.418 – Cecil Vicars Thompson standing with the Peace River in the background. Although his health is failing, he looks fit. The park in Northern Sunrise County near the County offices bearing his name is stocked with fish and entices ducks to visit.

A duck exercises on
the fish-stocked pond at the Cecil Thompson Park adjacent to Northern Sunrise
County buildings.

On his arrival in Alberta, he worked for George Craddock at Carbon, a village 41km west of Drumheller. When that work was done, he worked on building roads and playing semi-pro baseball and hockey. It was while doing this, he “grew to love to love Alberta”, according to daughter Ann Wood.

The same George Craddock from Carbon bought property between Nampa and Peace River in the Rosedale District of Northern Sunrise County, which has come through a couple of name changes since then. Cecil later bought the farm from George, but in those days as today, it was usually necessary to supplement one’s income. This, he did by hauling wood to town.

Eventually, the Thompson farm became a mixed farm – cattle, grain and clover seed were raised. Horses were a work necessity and Cecil took pride in his animals – horses and beef cattle. He also had dairy cattle from which he supplied the U. S. Army in 1942, when they were camped in the Jack Pine area while working on the CANOL Project (pipeline from Norman Wells to Whitehorse with Peace River the starting point of a temporary highway into the North). “Each morning, a huge truck would arrive at the farm, and drivers would come in for coffee. Many of these fellows were from the Deep South and found the winter here very cold, indeed,” writes Ann.

The Thompsons, Martha and Cecil, continued to produce milk during the next few years, delivering to the hospital and the Victory Hotel, as well as the Northern Alberta Dairy Producers (N.A.D.P.)

Cecil didn’t stay stationary too long. He bought cattle throughout the country, sometimes accompanied by Jim Millar from Judah and sometimes by Henry Jerry, owner of Peace River Meat Co. There were times when Henry couldn’t get away that Cecil did his buying for him.

Cecil was not all work and no play. Certainly not. Play was a large part of his life. Sports of all kinds were an attraction, including hunting and fishing, but especially baseball and hockey. In 1953, he was manager of the local baseball team. That was the same year, he sold the farm to the Companion Society from Quebec – a co-operative group of farmers, who settled here. They started out with the Thompson and Joe Walker farms and expanded to include the surrounding area, which evolved into the hamlet of St. Isidore.

Cecil’s health failed over the years, so once the farm was sold, he and Martha moved to their summer home in Peace River – on the corner of 101 Street and 104 Avenue. Winters were spent in southern California.

Monday, July 11, 2016

David Walty has lived in Peace River and worked as a
fisheries biologist and wildlife manager for over 40 years.Art has been a part of his family and his
life since he was a young boy.“I would say, I have always dabbled with
various media, often connecting my profession and love of nature with art.”He has drawn and painted fish for over 20 years, most
of his earlier works were very stylized pen and ink, pencil or water colour
profiles of Alberta fish. The designs were strongly influenced by aboriginal
and particularly west coast art.

His “fish
pressing” all started during an ice fishing trip a few years ago.Good friends Claire and Brian Lucko took him
and his wife Maureen to their ice fishing hut on Lesser Slave Lake. Claire and
David took some water colour paints along and after a few fish were caught,
decided to put away the fishing rods and do a little art work. That was the
beginning of fish pressing. Since then David has tried to improve his
techniques and spends considerable time fishing for subject fish and
experimenting.

The technique involves painting the fish, then
pressing the paper over the fishes’ body and fins to get a complete impression
of the fish. That may seem easy, but to get a complete print of the fish, is
quite challenging. Different paints and colours adhere to the fish in different
ways making impressions vary, but often leading to pleasant surprises. The
stretching and mounting of the rough paper pressings transforms the imprint
into an attractive art form.

Individual
fish by themselves produced a somewhat static picture whereas with the addition
of minnows (small fish) to the print, the fish comes to life. View this new art exhibit and see if the fish come to life for you.